After being absent for OTAs, tight end Jordan Reed returned for minicamp this week in good spirits and quickly added a spark to the offense in practice.
Near the end of the Redskins' first minicamp practice on Tuesday, with time winding down on an instituted two-minute drill, quarterback Trent Williams unleashed a 25-yard strike to tight end Jordan Reed down the right seam though some traffic for a touchdown.
"He's back babbyyy," yelled Cousins, as he ran to greet him.
The Washington Redskins offense held their first minicamp practice of 2017 on June 13, 2017, at the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park in Loudoun County, Va.
Indeed, after being absent for the last three weeks of OTAs, Reed returned to the team facility this week for the mandatory practice sessions, and throughout the day, gave the offense a spark it had missed without him.
"It was a great pass," Reed said of the touchdown. "He read the coverage, and I was where I was supposed to be, all go and cover three, just had to get past that backer and get open."
Reed has spent the bulk of the last couple of months training in Miami at Legacy Fit, where he's done a lot of cross training and conditioning while working in the afternoons with Seth Minter, known as the "Foot Doctor," running drills to tighten up footwork.
"I feel great," he said. "I feel explosive. I feel conditioned. I feel really good."
Reed said he wanted to stay at his gym to focus on healing and rehabbing his shoulder from the injury he sustained in last year's Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys.
Joining Reed in his return also included left tackle Trent Williams and running back Rob Kelley, filling out the offense and giving head coach Jay Gruden a better vision of the kind of attack he will have this season.
"It's pretty good," Gruden said. "You know, Jordan had a pretty good day; he had about 11 catches [chuckling]. You just feel good seeing Trent over there at left tackle. We've had guys step up without them, but it's great to see them. It's great to see the whole group back. Matt Jones had a couple of catches today and did some good things. To get everybody out here working, getting them on the same page, sweating, running, getting some situational work in, getting some good football in before the break was good.
While he won't have too much time to spend with his teammates once minicamp ends Wednesday, Reed is still grateful to see his old teammates again and get used to being around his new ones
"It feels great," Reed said. "I've been laughing these last couple of days just being around my guys, and it's just been awesome, so it's great to be back."
